Parks Associates research finds that 45% of smart home device owners cite convenience as one of the primary reasons for their product purchase and 38% made their purchase to keep their home and family safe and secure. The research firm will host the 22nd-annual. CONNECTIONS™: The Premier Connected Home Conference on May 22-24 in San Francisco, where leading energy, security, and IoT executives will examine the use cases and emerging business models that are engaging consumers and driving smart home adoption across industries.

Multiple sessions on Wednesday, May 23, will address the role of utilities and security companies in expanding the smart home product and service landscape.

“At Guardzilla, our connected security products are a primary consumer entry point into the smart home,” said Terry Bader, CRO, Guardzilla. “A key to our growth will be continued adept convergence into the broad ecosystem of other leading connected products and services. CONNECTIONS™ is the ideal venue for us to further that goal.”

“Forward-thinking utilities today recognize that in order to enhance the relationship with their customer, they need to embrace IoT to deliver services that customers want,” said Jason Dudley, Senior Planning Analyst, Salt River Project. “Solutions that address customer comfort and convenience in addition to energy management will be required and typically fall outside the traditional ‘business-as-usual’ utility model.”

“We are excited to be a frontrunner in providing human intervention when a critical event is occurring in a person’s life,” said Morgan Hertel, VP, Technology & Innovation, Rapid Response Monitoring.

“The next generation of home-based energy services will be more connected than ever before,” said Craig Johnson, president of Emerson’s Residential Solutions. “As the smart home landscape continues to evolve, Emerson is continually investing in next-generation solutions that bring customers energy savings, control, and peace of mind in their everyday lives.”

“Keeping families and their homes safe is critical. Doing so in minutes with one plug-in sensor that senses danger throughout the home and can prevent fires is the kind of home intelligence the market needs. I look forward to discussing sensing technologies and smart monitoring with my colleagues at CONNECTIONS™,” said Robert Marshall, CEO of Whisker Labs.

“At Reliant, we power, protect, and simplify the lives of our customers by providing options for them to control their own energy usage. We go beyond the expected to deliver energy management, home security, home automation, backup generation, and other products and services,” said Wayne Morrison, Principal, Emerging Technologies, Reliant.

"Purchasing a smart device provides the convenience of controlling simple things like indoor home comfort from a mobile app - making it no brainer for busy families, second home owners, and those caring for family members outside their home - especially those products that are ENERGY STAR certified,” said Rob Munin, CEO at LUX Products. "Excitement in the smart home has also opened the door for utility and energy companies to work more closely with consumers to find ways to save energy, better manage the grid, and help relieve spikes during peak usage. As new products emerge and home automation platforms mature, there’s an opportunity for manufacturers, utilities, and industry executives to leverage mobile applications to make viewing energy tips and savings more personal, engaging, and impactful. This strengthens the consumer relationship and will ultimately lead to better services and savings."

Other Parks Associates research:

Twenty-six percent of U.S. broadband households own at least one smart home device, such as a smart door lock, video doorbell, or smart thermostat.

73% of smart home device owners installed at least one product themselves or with help of a friend or family member, without professional support.

CONNECTIONS™ will host more than 650 high-level executives in an intimate networking environment. The event includes a mix of market research, analysis, and industry insight designed to capture the complexity and opportunities in these interconnected markets.

Parks Associates' 23rd-annual CONNECTIONS™: The Premier Connected Home Conference will take place May 21-23, 2019, at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport in San Francisco. CONNECTIONS™ is the premier connected home event hosting more than 650 executives from the connected entertainment, IoT, and smart home industries. CONNECTIONS™ provides networking opportunities combined with two days of visionary keynotes and conference sessions focused on technology adoption and trends, product and service forecasts, evaluation of new business strategies, and recommendations for strategic partnerships, monetization opportunities, and value-added service design. The event also features a research workshop highlighting Parks Associates’ smart home insight consumer data.

Throughout the event, sponsors offer tabletop demos during networking events, spotlighting new technology innovations and services for the entertainment, mobile, and smart home market segments. For more information, contact sales@parksassociates.com, call 972-490-1113, visit www.connectionsconference.com.